Longer Stay For Bosnia Troops?

Defense Chief, Clinton Seem To Differ On Timetable

June 13, 1996|By William Neikirk, Washington Bureau.

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary William Perry speculated Wednesday that U.S. forces might remain in Bosnia beyond the end of the year if war threatens to break out, but President Clinton later reaffirmed that he intends to withdraw the troops beginning in December.

"I believe that we should stick with our timetable," the president said at a news conference with European Union leaders. "We believe that IFOR (the international peacekeeping force) can complete its mission in about a year."

Clinton said the peacekeeping force, which includes 18,000 Americans, should be at full strength when elections are held in Bosnia in September. Then, he said, the "draw-down" will begin as planned Dec. 20, a year after deployment began.

Perry appeared to contradict that timetable when he told reporters aboard his airplane in Macedonia that he would recommend that the U.S. participate if NATO decides to maintain a force in Bosnia to prevent a renewal of fighting.

But White House officials said that this was not a contradiction, only hypothesizing by the secretary.

They said Perry was speculating about the kind of force that might remain in Bosnia after elections are over and U.S. forces withdraw as planned.

European leaders are just beginning to talk about this "continuation" force, but "it hasn't taken any real shape," said a White House official. "That's a discussion that will unfold this fall and likely continue into December."

There has been no decision about such a continuing force, nor what its components would be, the official added. But it was clear from Perry's remarks that once IFOR goes out of business, he expects something else to take its place.

In his chat with reporters, Perry was quoted as saying that NATO "will not want to simply give up on the investment that they have made in Bosnia. If they feel that some further action is necessary to preserve the peace in Bosnia, they may very well determine to maintain a NATO force to do that."

He added that if such a decision is made, "It would be my recommendation that the United States participate in any force that is so designated--including ground troops. . . ."

Some analysts have suggested that fighting will break out again in Bosnia once the current NATO force leaves, and that a continuation force will be necessary.

Whether there will be such a force and how it will be structured are key topics for the U.S. and its NATO allies in coming months, White House officials said.

One scenario has the Europeans taking on more responsibility for security arrangements in Bosnia after the U.S. pulls back its ground troops.

But the U.S. would remain involved in intelligence, logistics and air cover.

Such a possibility is "way too speculative" at this point, the administration official said.

"If NATO decides to take on that mission, and that's a big if . . . then the next question is what's the force structure required to do that," Perry said.

While the defense secretary jumped out ahead of the current discussion with his speculative comments, administration officials did not dismiss out of hand the possible developments that he described.

His remarks signaled that the future role of NATO and the U.S. in Bosnia is a live topic of debate within the alliance and is likely to spill over into the presidential election in the U.S.

White House Press Secretary Michael McCurry did not completely rule out that U.S. forces might participate in Bosnia in some role at a future date.

"We are far from a point where we can properly assess the need for such a mission" after U.S. forces begin to withdraw in December, he said.